Scott McTominay comes to Manchester United's rescue against sorry Chelsea
GREAT SCOTT: Manchester United's Scott McTominay celebrates after scoring his side's second goal. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
A tempestuous week for Manchester United and Erik ten Hag, featuring a bad defeat at Newcastle, reports of dressing room unrest and the club banning media outlets, ended with Scott McTominay their saviour again.
The pre-match response from Ten Hag was dramatic, as he dropped Marcus Rashford, and the football that followed no less so, especially in a first half that featured goals from McTominay and Cole Palmer and a Bruno Fernandes penalty miss.
Finally, McTominay settled it for ten Hag’s inconsistent side, heading in Alejandro Garnacho’s excellent 69th minute cross to deliver three much-needed points to his club and cement his position as United’s leading league scorer, with five.
A helter-skelter first half should have seen United take complete control - not least because Fernandes missed a penalty - but, in the end, they could have paid for their misses.
Former City kid Palmer finally struck an equaliser for the visitors, cancelling out McTominay’s opener although, while United dominated possession, the visitors missed a whole string of chances of their own.
Finally, with half-time looming, they made it count. Thiago Silva and Mykhailo Mudryk combining to create a shooting opportunity for Palmer.
The youngster seemed to have been well corralled by Harry Maguire but, being forced away from goal, Palmer rolled a quite breathtaking finishing behind the diving Andre Onana and into the far corner.
Palmer, who made his shock move to Stamford Bridge from City this summer, hails from the suburb of Wythenshawe, just a couple of miles from Old Trafford as the crow flies, but this was his first senior game at the “enemy” stadium and the goal made it one to remember.
Not that his team should have been in contention by that stage if United had made the most of the extraordinary catalogue of chances they piled up.
McTominay hit the one that mattered, on 19 minutes, after penetrating passes from Fernandes and Garnacho presented Maguire with a shooting chance that was well blocked by Marc Cucurella.
The ball broke kindly for the Scotland international who switched feet and showed composed technique to drive in the opening goal.
It was his fourth Premier League goal of the season - top in the United squad - although Fernandes should have hit the four-goal mark himself ten minutes earlier.
It took a VAR check and video screen review but replays showed Enzo Fernandez had clearly tripped Antony, presenting the United Fernandes with the spot kick. The attempt was not good, a low strike to the keeper’s right, but Robert Sanchez did well to dive low to save.
But they were just the potted highlights of an extraordinary first half that could have ended 4-3, in either direction.
Just after the penalty miss, Nicolas Jackson played in Mudryk and the Chelsea man hit the foot of the United post. The Reds responded, Garnacho’s committed run ending in a strike against the Chelsea upright before his side finally managed to convert one of their chances.
Just after the half-hour, United thought they had doubled their lead when Fernandes delivered a superb cross for McTominay who, first, saw his header blocked by Sanchez and then had a follow-up shot well saved.
Chelsea flew up the other end - it was that kind of night - where Raheem Sterling broke free and played a poor ball to Jackson who should have had the goal at his mercy but, instead, was charged down by Onana.
And the visitors could sense an equaliser when Jackson played Mudryk clean through on goal but the Ukranian hit a poor shot wide instead of trying to put Sterling into space.
The second half did not start in quite such manic fashion - how could it? - but still there was a good chance for Jackson, who out jumped Diogo Dalot to meet a cross from Chelsea sub Reece James but headed hopelessly over.
And United took ten minutes to carve out anything resembling a chance as Garnacho showed fine individual skill to create space and curl a strong shot just wide.
Old Trafford had been sleepy for large chunks of the second half - no wonder given the late hour with the 8.15pm kick-off having been compounded by eight minutes of first half stoppage time - but the Garancho miss breathed some energy and life into it.
Fernandes soon set up Antony on the edge of the box and the winger’s shot, with the outside of his boot, took a wicked deflection to wrong foot Sanchez but fly wide.
McTominay finally put one of the mounting chances away although, soon after, he missed an even better chance for what would have been a hat-trick while Garnacho also narrowly missed a superb opening.
Onana 6; Dalot 6, Lindelof 6 (Reguilon 45, 5), Maguire 7, Shaw 7; McTominay 9, Amrabat 5; Antony 6, Fernandes 6, Garnacho 8; Hojlund 5 (Rashford 83).Â
Bayindir, Martial, Pellistri, Wan-Bissaka, van de Beek, Evans, Mainoo.
Sanchez 7; Cucurella 6 (James 45, 5), Disasi 6, Silva 7, Colwill 6; Caicedo 5, Fernandez 6; Sterling 6, Palmer 8, Mudryk 6 (BrojÄ… 76, 5); Jackson 5.
Badiashile, Petrovic, Maatsen, Washington, Glichrist, Matos, Casteldine.
G Kavanagh 7.
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